Paula Milne

Cold War, the seventies. Lars is a Romeo agent from East Germany: he must go to the West side and seduce and spy on Western women who work in government or defense institutions.

7.5/10

A drama about the shifting power in a marriage when the personal and political collide.

7.2/10

Set in the 1970s London during the height of the Cold War when a young spy discovers the disturbing truth about his father's complex past. Based on Alan Judd's 2001 novel Legacy, the second in the Thoroughgood series after 1981's A Breed Of Heroes (adapted by the BBC in 1994). As the three day week, petrol rationing and industrial strife plunge Britain into a state of emergency, MI6 trainee spy Charles Thoroughgood is asked to reconnect with an old university friend, Russian diplomat Viktor Koslov, with a view to 'turning' him. Viktor has his own agenda, though, and reveals a shocking truth about Charles's own family that threatens to derail him, both personally and professionally. He is catapulted into a dangerous personal odyssey to uncover the truth but finds himself drawn into a lethal KGB plot to mount an attack within the UK. His life is further complicated by a relationship with the wife of another agent, which forces him to realise that betrayal can take many forms.

5.8/10

The interwoven lives of seven people whose relationships are forged in the white heat of the 60s through to the present day.

7.1/10
4.2%

Set against the turbulent backdrop of London in the 1940s, this adaptation of Sarah Waters' bestselling novel, The Night Watch, follows four young Londoners inextricably linked by their wartime experiences. In a time when the barriers of sexual morality and social convention have been broken down, Kay, Helen, Viv and Duncan enjoy a freedom never experienced before. Moving back in time through the 1940s into the maelstrom of the Blitz, the lives, loves and losses of these four central characters are unravelled. For them, the post-war victory is bittersweet, for it returns them to the margins of society, from which they hoped they had been liberated. In order to build their future they must each make peace with their past.

6.5/10

The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue.

6.2/10
7.1%

Follow three intricately connected stories of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in World War Two. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as we trace the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK.

7.4/10

The Virgin Queen explores the full sweep of Elizabeth's life: from her days of fear as a potential victim of her sister's terror; through her great love affair with Robert Dudley; into her years of triumph over the Armada; and finally her old age and her last, enigmatic relationship with her young protégé, the Earl of Essex.

7.5/10

While hiding his own rapidly deteriorating eyesight, a detective investigates the murder of a black youth leader.

Inspired by the true story of indomitable Kuki Gallmann, the film tells of a beautiful and inquisitive woman who had the courage to escape from her comfortable yet monotonous life in Italy to start anew in the African wilderness with her son, Emanuele, and her new husband, Paolo. Gallmann faces great danger there but eventually becomes a celebrated conservationist.

5.6/10
1%

A couple that seems perfect is hiding big secrets from each other. They are all revealed after they meet a psychotic psychologist.

4.4/10

Edgar Pascoe is a highly successful and charismatic cardiac surgeon. Pre-eminent in his field, he is the embodiment of the upper echelons of medicine: urbane, assured, supremely confident in his own abilities. But he is not infallible - either in the operating theatre or in his private life with his divided family. Edgar's wife Lileth, a dedicated and compassionate country GP, is increasingly drawn to the holistic arts of healing still practiced in the East, but scorned by purveyors of Western technology. As their professional ideals and methods clash, so inevitably does their relationship. Nicola is Edgar's favoured child, ruthless and unscrupulous in her ambition to emulate her illustrious father. But it is in China, heading a medical delegation, that Edgar is confronted by an ethical dilemma over the abuse of human rights and is forced into a painful moral awakening which will prove to affect every area of his life.

7.5/10

Following the break-up of his marriage after revealing his homosexuality, GP Martin Wyatt loses custody of his son Oliver to his now ex-wife Hannah and her new partner Frank. It is not long, however, until Oliver appears at the house of Martin and his new lover Tom claiming to have been beaten up by boys in the park. After another incident, Martin puts two and two together and comes to the conclusion that Frank has been beating Oliver without Hannah's knowledge. Martin then begins a long courtroom custody battle to win back his son.

7.1/10
8.3%

Matt falls for Casey, the new girl in school. She's fun-loving and eccentric, but there's a darkness to her whimsy that Matt can't begin to comprehend. When Casey attempts to commit suicide, her parents place her in a mental institution. Matt springs her out, and together the young lovers head on a road trip. They believe their love can "cure" Casey's problems. Matt starts to wonder, though, if are they inspired or misguided.

5.4/10
2.8%

The Politician's Wife is a British television political drama written by Paula Milne, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1995 and starring Trevor Eve and Juliet Stevenson. The story centres around high-flying politician Duncan Matlock, Families Minister for the UK Government, who becomes embroiled in tabloid scandal as it is discovered that he has been having an affair with a former escort turned parliamentary researcher. Duncan's wife Flora becomes the focus of media attention as her reactions to the revelations are played out. Initially she plays out the part of the loyal wife, but as an aide of her husband feeds her details about the affair and various other political scandals that could be made to happen. She begins to sabotage her husband's integrity and reputation through a campaign of leaks and misinformation to the press and British Conservative Party stalwarts. After a series of increasingly sensational and damaging stories in the press, her husband is forced to resign in humiliation. The last episode closes with the results of the by-election being announced on TV. Flora Matlock wins with the support of her party whilst her husband is exiled to a minor post in Belgium.

7.7/10

The abused neglected wife of a loutish hotelier begins to suspect that her husband is the serial rapist that has been terrorizing the area.

A bored and frustrated suburban housewife follows her dream of becoming a racing driver

Life changes dramatically for radio amateur Norman when he gets in touch with a round-the-world yachtsman who introduces him to a different life - and a taste of fame.

Christine takes up an unusual line of work and proves she is not just another bored housewife.

Patrick and Judith have everything prepared for the arrival of their first child but when he is born, they are quite unprepared for the crisis they must face.